Many different types of personal entertainment systems are known that provide sound reproduction and/or sound generation. These include CD (compact disk) players, mini-disk and micro-disk players, MP3 (Motion Picture Experts Group, Audio Layer 3) players, cassette tape players, AM (amplitude modulation)/FM (frequency modulation) radios, handheld and portable computers, PDAs (personal digital assistants), television and video playback equipment including DVDs (digital video disks), electronic musical instruments, electronic toys, wireless microphones, and other personal/portable devices that provide sound reproduction and/or sound generation.
Personal entertainment systems and devices typically are very compact, and they often lack any substantial mechanism for quality sound reproduction, such as a high fidelity amplifier, loudspeaker or headset, tonal adjustment (e.g., bass and treble controls), balance (left and right relative volume), fade (front and rear relative volume), and so forth.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a significant need in the art for apparatus and methods to enable quality sound reproduction from personal/portable personal entertainment systems.